10 Jul Does landscaping cost more than it did 10 years ago?

Every landscaper will be able to relate to the situation where they present a quote only for the client to turn pale and croak “how much?!” I totally get it. They’ve seen a TV makeover where the cost was claimed to be £5K and they expected their quote to be comparable. What they haven’t factored in is that the show may have been filmed a good while ago. Also the labour costs were met by the production company and some of the landscaping work would make an expert witnesses hair stand on end. All of that aside though, I’ve been thinking about how landscaping costs have changed since my Dad started this business almost 4 decades ago. And I have to agree, that for domestic projects, the average cost of a garden makeover has definitely changed to what it was back in the day.

What has led to the rise in landscaping cost?

• Inflation – prices are rising all the time and landscaping is not immune to that.
• Lifestyle changes – we’re using our gardens much differently to how we did in the past and this impacts on design and layout.
• Materials cost and availability – global events have dramatically impacted prices
• Biosecurity measures adding to the price of plants
• Improved workforce welfare – positive changes to health and safety standards and employee remuneration
• Changes to landscaping methods
• Rising business overheads – office expenses, insurances, machinery, employer NI etc all need to be covered by income from the work we do.

Landscaping Costs – Have They Risen More Than Inflation?

I want to start this article by looking at how landscaping prices have changed relative to inflation. Because I think that’s quite interesting.

Holland Landscapes has been in business for almost 40 years and we have kept records of each project. Which means that I’ve got real life examples to draw on.   I won’t give a precise landscaping cost because that would be disrespectful to our clients. So I’m going to be talking in percentages.

I put the original cost of each of these projects into the Bank Of England inflation checker to see how inflation will have changed the prices. Then, based on the original design and specification, I estimated what Holland Landscapes would charge to build those same gardens today (2025). Here’s what I found.

Project A:

The Scope Of Works: Removed an old pond, created a natural stone patio, laid a lawn with brick edging and stepping stone path to summer house, planted trees and herbaceous perennials.

Cost in 2007: £10K – £15K

Build cost adjusted for inflation: £17K – £25K

Estimated cost for this project at 2025 rates: £35K-£45K

That’s almost double.

Project B:

The Scope Of Works: A large garden. Built an extensive patio, created paths to other areas of the garden, installed screening, sourced and planted a wide palette of herbaceous perennials.

view through ornamental plants and grasses to a large patio with staggered edges. Outdoor dining furniture is set out beside a generously sized conservatory

Cost in 2005: £35K – £45K

Build cost adjusted for inflation: £62K – £80K

Estimated cost for this project at 2025 rates: £100-£150K

Again, an increase in real terms of almost double

Why has the cost of building a garden almost doubled in real terms over 20 years? Well, I believe there are several factors at play here, all of which impact the cost of landscaping.

Lifestyle changes

First and foremost, it’s important to note that garden makeovers in general have become far more sophisticated and complex than they were when Dad started landscaping in the late ’80’s. Rather than a relatively simple design with a seating area, large lawn, path to the vegetable patch and concrete bases for sheds and greenhouses, we’re looking at a higher proportion of hard landscaping compared to lawns and borders. 

In the 1980’s, many gardens were practical outdoor spaces for growing food, drying laundry and allowing the children to play outdoors. Since then we’ve seen a gradual transition towards gardens being used for more for leisure. Particularly since lockdown, gardens have become an extension of the living space, used for relaxation, entertaining friends and family and, often, pursuing hobbies.

Modern garden makeovers often include multiple seating areas, at least one pergola or shelter, a water feature, outdoor lighting, beautiful planting plans and lighting plans. We’re also being asked to solve problems such as gardens being overlooked, poor soil conditions (thank you builders!) or difficult drainage requirements.

The desire to spend more time relaxing outdoors has led to more sophisticated garden design and  landscaping projects

Materials – Availability

Isn’t it amazing how global events can impact families? I would say that the COVID pandemic had an enormous impact on landscaping costs. By 2020 garden designers, landscapers and homeowners had the luxury of choosing from an enormous raft of landscaping materials and plants, both home grown and imported. Natural stone from India, China and North Africa, Porcelain Pavers from Italy, Timber from Europe and South America….the list goes on. With COVID precautions though, the quarries closed, the ships stayed in their docks and nothing was produced or moved.

Naturally, many homeowners took lockdown as an opportunity to have their gardens refurbished. Working from home made them super-conscious of how important outdoor space is for wellbeing. And when your home office looks onto a tired garden complete with old washing machine, broken fence and overgrown shrubs, the urgency to improve it increases.

As with so many other materials and services around that time, increased demand combined with limited supply to increase prices. And sadly, those prices still have not fully recovered.

Now lets talk about the war in Ukraine. Ukraine is hardly famous for supplying beautiful landscaping materials. But what it used to do – very well indeed – is mine the raw materials for making porcelain paving. And supply cheap gas to fire the tiles. Sadly Ukraine’s current predicament has had a knock-on effect on porcelain paving prices. Consequently there is now increased demand for natural stone to be used as a substitute.

Cost And Quality Of Landscaping Materials

The cost of landscaping materials has risen dramatically over the past decade, seemingly more than the rate of inflation. We’ve already touched on some of the factors leading to price hikes. Haulage costs, worker welfare, war, challenges with supply and demand. Unfortunately, there’s absolutely nothing a landscaper can do to mitigate the rising cost of materials, other than shop around. 

Personally I’m very reluctant to use poor quality materials, Often if the buying price is a lower than average, materials can be difficult (and therefore costly) to install and rarely result in the finish that Holland Landscape’s customers deserve. Even reclaimed goods come at a premium price these days due to the work involved in lifting, cleaning and transporting pre-used stone.

Landscaping involves a huge range of skills sets and plenty of attention to health and safety during the build

Worker Welfare

A lot of industries are blaming the rise in minimum wages and employers national insurance contributions for price rises. I heartily support the concept of a good days pay for a good days work. Landscapers in particular are highly skilled and work blimming hard to bring beautiful gardens to life. They deserve to be properly paid, and if that means that landscaping prices rise accordingly, so be it.

But there’s more to worker well-being than just good wages. I need to be sure that my teams, and everyone around them are safe on site. That means ensuring they have the right training and equipment to comply with CDM (2015) Regulations. As tools have become more powerful, Health and Safety measures are more important. Plus, I can’t ask my workforce to jump in the van and drive to the nearest garage every time they need the loo. So I hire Portaloos when they are on a site with no toilets or handwashing facilities. This of course, contributes to the cost of the garden makeover.

Then there are company overheads such as insurances, van tax, travelling costs, machinery hire, delivery charges, office expenses etc. Oh dear – my shoulders are drooping more and more as I think of how those have gone up.

I am pleased to say though, that thanks to the major materials importers and suppliers in the UK, who insist on sustainable sourcing, worker welfare in foreign quarries has vastly improved too. People are given the right safety equipment and training, they are paid a decent wage and not expected to work until they reach adulthood. Again, that impacts the price of materials – but IMHO, that’s a good thing!

Biosecurity

There was a time when trees and plants for a landscaping project would mainly be propagated and grown in local nurseries. However, tastes changed, and people wanted more variety. They discovered that foreign growers could provide that variety at lower prices than local growers. Naturally, many smaller growers could no longer compete and changed their business model to do something other than propagate plants.  Fast forward a couple of decades and there are now worries about plant pests and disease being brought to our island nation via imported plants. Consequently the process for getting landscaping plants into the country has become significantly more expensive. All due to complex paperwork, the need for every consignment to be inspected and, occasionally, for plants being cared for in quarantine.

Technical Standards Of Work

Industry stalwarts like Alan Sargent, who started his landscaping business 60 years ago, will confirm that as landscaping materials have changed, so have landscaping methods. That’s not to say that Dad’s landscaping methods were in any way wrong. He was working with different products.

When Alan started out, paving slabs would have been considerably thicker and therefore heavier than the lovely 20mm pavers that we usually work with. A deep, thick slab of natural stone, once in position, is unlikely to get a wobble on or move very far. However, the modern equivalent weighs less. It needs a good stable base in order to make a strong, safe and durable patio or path. 

So if Alan were to re-quote one of his early projects taking into account modern standards of working – he’d probably have a whole different set of considerations. Speed of installation, type of sub-base, haulage costs, number of people to move each slab into position….you get the idea.

Training, experience and an insistence on high standards of workmanship mean that Holland Landscapes have won several prestigious APL Awards over the years.

Business Overheads

Oh dear, this blog is beginning to sound like a big whinge. I didn’t mean it to be that way at all. But dear reader, just as your cost of living has increased of late, so have the costs of running a business. 

For a landscaping business to make enough profit to keep the business running – and yes, I do want to keep my Dad’s legacy going and pass it on to my family – then it cannot absorb every single price rise that cannot be applied to a specific project. Which means that our hourly rate also includes a proportion of the cost of running our business. So if insurances, electricity, vehicle running costs have risen – so have our charges. I hate doing it, but I have to keep this business alive.

Landscaping Profit Margins – Have They Increased In The Last 40 Years?

Difficult one this. Are Holland Landscapes profit margins higher now than they were when Dad first started the business? Actually, I’d say no, they’re not. Yes, our hourly rate has risen but so have business overheads, such as vehicle costs, machinery costs, wages, office running costs, insurances – the list goes on.

So whilst landscaping is now more expensive for the client than it was 10 years ago – so is the cost of providing that service.

On A More Positive Note

I honestly believe that the value of a garden lies not in the cost to build it, but in the benefits it supplies.

I’m proud that Holland Landscapes, and all other members of the Association of Landscape Professionals, continues to create beautiful spaces that have a positive effect on people’s lives.

It’s true that Landscaping prices have risen but so have the the benefits we all get from our gardens. Extra living space, wellbeing, self esteem, property values…..the list goes on. Plus, as a small business, I am confident that the wages I pay my teams are mostly ploughed back into the local economy. Thus helping it to thrive and create a better living environment for all of us. Garden designers, landscapers and gardeners help shape our world, and I’m proud to be a part of that.

Setting Realistic Landscaping Budgets – hints and tips from the Holland Landscapes team